If you’re a registered voter in the state Assembly’s 116th District, there’s a pretty good chance one of the two candidates for the district seat recently knocked on your door.

Greg Johnson, a Republican of Marcy, and Anthony Brindisi, a Democrat of Utica, face off in a special election on Tuesday, Sept. 13.

Both said they have spent entire days going door-to-door – meeting thousands of people, leaving behind pamphlets and trying to stick it out through rainy days – and have learned much along the way.

There are some locations where the numbering of houses is somewhat illogical, so you have to make sure you’re going to the right locations, Johnson said. Multiple-family houses are difficult to access, and apartment buildings are almost impossible, he said.

You can’t leave election pamphlets in residents’ mailboxes, so Johnson uses rubber bands to hang them instead, he said. And he starts off by saying people’s names to put them at ease, he said.

“And then, there’s the dogs,” Johnson said, as a dog started barking at him from a house he was approaching.

Walking door-to-door in an election can be an important way for candidates to meet voters. The fact that it’s a special election has made the task of getting out and meeting voters even more challenging, Brindisi said.

“It’s definitely an accelerated schedule,” he said. “I’m out there all day knocking on doors from morning to night.”

You definitely learn as you go along and hear from voters about various issues, Brindisi said.

“Your first time, you’re nervous, but after doing it a few times, you start to get your groove,” he said.